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Hawaii  Agricultural  Experiment  St^^jj^ 

HONOLULU.  /A,  ••**'  '  4/2K 

E.  V.  WILCOX,  Special  Agent  inSBE^ge.  •,5j 
\\   NOV          1973  ;K§ 

PRESS    BULLETIN    r\0.\2^, 


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-"****„*»' 


Pineapple  Shipping  Exper 

in    1908. 


By  J.  E.  Higgins, 

Horticulturist,    Hawaii   Experiment   Station,    United    States   De- 
partment of  Agriculture. 


The  pineapple  industry  continues  to  develop.  It  has  attained 
larger  dimensions  than  would  have  been  thought  of  a  few  years 
ago.  The  output  has  increased  so  rapidly  that  some  growers 
have  even  expressed  the  fear  that  production  might  for  a  time 
exceed  consumption.  With  the  conviction  that  the  best  pre- 
ventive for  overproduction  lies  in  the  direction  of  increased  dis- 
tribution ;  with  the  belief  that  the  fresh  pineapple  is  one  of  the 
best  possible  advertisements  for  itself  and  for  the  canned  product : 
and  with  the  further  fact  in  mind  that  whatever  can  be  done  to 
perfect,  methods  of  shipping  will  increase  the  output  of  fresh 
pineapples,  this  Station  has  continued  its  investigations  in  pine- 
apple shipping  during  the  past  season.  A  number  of  new  prob- 
lems have  been  taken  up  and  some  of  the  experiments  of  pre- 
vious years  have  been  repeated  with  confirmatory  results. 

The  experiments  were  on  a  co-operative  basis,  being  entered 
into  by  the  Wahiawa  Consolidated  Pinpfflr  ^l^l,\]J'nnXLtnr  T~Tn 


'  »M 


^o«o 


U.S.  DEPOSITORY 


waiian  Pineapple  Company,  the  Thomas  Pineapple  Company, 
the  Matson  Navigation  Company,  and  the  Hawaii  Experiment 
Station.  The  shipment  was  made  on  the  Steamship  "Hilonian," 
sailing  from  Honolulu  August  n,  1908.  The  plan  of  the  experi- 
ment was  similar  to  that  outlined  in  Bulletin  No.  14  and  Press 
Bulletin   No.   21. 

RESULTS   OF  TRIALS 

The  value  of  "curing"  the  fruit  was  one  of  the  important  prob- 
lems which  had  not  been  taken  up  in  a  systematic  way  until  this 
season.  The  term  "curing"'  as  here  applied  refers  to  the  hold- 
ing of  the  fruit  for  a  day  or  two  before  packing.  During  this 
time  most  of  the  stems  will  shrivel  and  the  cut  surfaces  will  be- 
come dry  and  resistant  to  infection.  By  this  means  also,  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  fruit  is  eliminated.  During  the  warmer 
part  of  the  day  the  temperature  of  the  fruit  in  the  field  is  much 
higher  than  the  temperature  of  the  air  in  the  shade.  In  some 
observations  between  7  A.  M.  and  8  A.  M.  it  was  found  that 
the  temperature  at  the  center  of  the  fruit  was  only  70°  Fah., 
while  the  air  temperature  in  the  shadow  of  the  same  fruit  was 
78°  Fah.  Inserting  the  thermometer  one  inch,  the  reading  was 
76°  Fah.  Before  10  A.  M.  the  temperature  of  the  fruit  in  the 
center  was  820  Fah.,  and  in  the  warmest  part,  95°  Fah.  The 
fruit  continued  absorbing  heat.  At  2  P.  M.  the  reading  was 
1050   Fah.  in  the  warmest  part. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  pineapples,  as  ordinarily  gath- 
ered, have  absorbed  a  large  amount  of  heat.  If  packed  before 
this  has  been  eliminated,  the  ripening  and  decay  of  the  fruit 
will  be  greatly  hastened. 

To  test  the  practical  value  of  holding  the  fruit  before  packing, 
a  part  of  the  shipment  was  gathered  two  days,  and  another  part. 
one  day  before  packing;  while  still  a  third  portion  was  gathered 
and  packed  the  same  day.  The  results  indicated  no  advantage 
in  holding  the  fruit  longer  than  twenty-four  hours,  this  being 
sufficient  to  permit  of  the  drying  of  the  stems  and  the  cooling 
of  the  fruit.  Possibly,  a  longer  time  would  be  required  'luring 
the  damper  weather  when  the  winter  crop  is  being  harvested. 


SATURDAY 


WEDNESDA  Y 


THURSDA Y 


WEDNESDA  Y 


PLATE  I.    THERMOGRAPH    RECORD. 

Tli.'  nbovc  shows  ;i  record  "i  the  temperature  of  the  Mir  surrounding  pineapples  in  transit  fr 
Wednesday,  August  19,  1908.  The  Interruption  oi  the  record  on  Monday,  August  10th,  was  coincident  v 
from  cai   to  steamship, 


Temperature  in  transit.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  temper- 
ature of  the  air  surrounding:  the  fruit  in  transit,  but  it  must  he 
remembered  that  this  is  not  a  true  record  of  the  temperature  of 
the  fruit,  since  the  latter  must  acquire  the  air  temperature  slowly. 
If  packed  when  cool,  it  will  probably  not  acquire  the  greatest 
heat  indicated  during  the  short  time  in  the  car  in  Honolulu  or 
in  transit.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  not  be  quite  so  cool  as  the 
air  temperature  by  the  record  sheet  on  arrival  in  San  Francisco. 
The  record  exhibited  by  the  accompanying  illustration  (Plate 
I)  was  made  by  a  thermograph  placed  in  the  car,  and  later  in 
the  'tween  decks  of  the  ship.  In  both  cases  it  was  located  among 
the  crates  with  a  view  to  giving  a  fair  average  temperature. 
From  Saturday  at  5  P.  M.  until  Monday  between  10  A.  M.  and 
1 2  noon,  the  fruit  was  in  the  car,  the  doors  being  open  until 
about  7  A.  M.  on  Monday,  when  the  train  departed  from  Wa- 
hiawa.  The  thermograph  was  installed  in- the  ship  at  about  4:30 
P.  M.  of  the  same  day.  Several  sudden  drops  in  temperature 
may  be  noted  during  the  time  spent  at  sea.  These  were  coinci- 
dent with  the  opening  of  the  hatches  and  the  hoisting  of  the 
windsail  after  rough  weather. 

The  hoop  deck.  The  record  of  temperatures  on  the  poop  deck 
was  taken  by  means  of  a  self-registering  thermometer  which  was 
read  twice  each  day.  This  thermometer  was  suspended  in  a 
narrow  shaft  between  the  crates,  arranged  for  the  purpose  at  the 
center  of  the  deck.  The  thermometer  was  suspended  soon  after 
getting  to  sea  on  August  nth  and  the  maximum  reading  for 
the  remainder  of  the  day  was  79°  Fah.  On  the  12th,  the  maxi- 
mum was  74 r  at  the  noon  reading,  and  71°  at  the  5:30  P.  M. 
reading.  From  this  time  to  the  end  of  the  voyage,  the  tem- 
perature constantly  fell,  always  remaining  below  that  in  the 
'tween  decks. 

Comparing  the  results  in  the  fruit  carried  in  these  two  parts 
of  the  ship,  neither  showed  any  advantage  over  the  other.  Flad 
there  been  continuous  rough  weather,  so  that  the  hatches  could 
not  have  been  opened,  the  results  might  have  been  different. 
The  electric  ventilator  installed  to  ventilate  the  'tween  decks  of 
the  S.  S.  "Hilonian."  marks  an  important  step  in  progress  in 
Hawaiian  fruit  shipping.     The  one  machine,  however,  is  inade- 


quate  for  the  space  and  should  be  supplemented  by  another. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  the  'tween  decks  adequately  ven- 
tilated will  afford  the  safest  and  best  part  of  the  ship  for  pine- 
apples.    Indeed  nothing  short  of  this  will  meet  the  situation. 

Care  in  handling.  The  conditions  under  which  the  experi- 
ments of  the  past  season  were  conducted,  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity for  careful  handling  from  the  field  to  the  wharf  in  San 
Francisco.  The  greater  portion  of  the  pineapples  were  brought 
from  the  field  to  the  packing  house  in  lug  boxes  containing  only 
a  reasonable  number  of  fruits  each,  spring  wagons  being  used 
for  this  transportation.  At  Honolulu  the  car  was  placed  on  a 
siding  close  to  the  ship  and  thus  carting,  involving  two  handlings, 
was  avoided.  It  is  due  the  Matson  Navigation  Company  to 
state  here  that  its  handling  of  the  fruit  evinced  much  care  In 
loading,  the  sling  was  provided  with  adjustable  protectors  to 
prevent  the  binding  of  the  ropes  against  the  slats  of  the  crates. 
In  discharging,  a  man  was  stationed  at  the  side  of  the  chute 
and  about  half  way  between  the  deck  and  the  wharf  to  stop  the 
crates.  By  this  means  the  men  at  the  end  of  the  chute  were  able 
to  prevent  a  sudden  jar  when  the  crates  reached  the  wharf. 
The  loss  by  bruising  which  oftentimes  is  very  heavy,  was  reduced 
to  almost  insignificant  proportions  by  this  careful  handling  from 
field  to  market  and  by  good  packing. 

Fruit  from  different  fields.  The  results  of  comparisons  of  the 
shipping  qualities  of  pines  from  different  fields  in  earlier  experi- 
ments were  confirmed  by  the  trials  of  the  past  season.  These 
results  were  fully  set  forth  in  Bulletin  Xo.  14  and  in  Press 
Bulletin  Xo.  21,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 

MARKET  PROBLEMS. 

Size  of  Fruits.  There  has  recently  grown  up  a  tendency  with 
some  growers  to  ship  very  small  pineapples.  The  reasons  for 
this  are  that  the  small  fruit  carries  better  with  less  bruising  and 
less  decay.  Although  the  price  per  dozen  is  low,  these  fruits 
sometimes  sell  quite  readily.  It  is  not  recommended  that  any 
great  quantity  of  the  largest  pineapples,  weighing  between  six 
and  nine  pounds  per  fruit,  should  be  shipped  since  the  demand 


for  these  is  small.  They  appeal  to  a  fancy  market,  and,  so  far 
as  such  outlet  for  them  can  be  developed,  they  should  be  ship- 
ped ;  but  the  demand  is  for  'the  medium  sized  fruit.  There  is  a 
danger  in  the  practice  of  shipping  the  very  small  fruits,  includ- 
ing those  weighing  three  pounds  and  less.  The  fact  that  a  good 
many  of  these  have  come  into  the  San  Francisco  market  from 
Honolulu  has  led  some  to  suppose  that  the  Hawaiian  pineapple 
soils  were  becoming  exhausted,  and  that  these  small  fruits  rep- 
resented a  decline  in  the  quality  of  the  product.  As  indicated 
above,  this  is  not  the  cause,  which  rather  is  of  a  purely  com- 
mercial nature.  The  Hawaiian  pineapple  growers,  however, 
should  be  aware  of  the  interpretation  which  is  being  made  and 
guard  the  reputation  of  their  product  by  shipping  first  class 
fruit  of  medium  size,  and  such  quantity  of  larger  sizes  as  prove 
profitable.  The  fruit  which  sells  most  readily,  and  at  the  same 
time  is  superior  in  size  to  most  of  the  fruit  with  which  it  com- 
petes, weighs  from  four  to  five  pounds. 

Insect  Quarantine.  Developments  have  arisen  during  the  sea- 
son which  have  necessitated  some  changes  in  the  practices  of 
the  growers  and  shippers  in  relation  to  insect  control.  The 
California  State  Board  of  Horticulture  have  ruled  that  pine- 
apples entering  the  State  must  be  fumigated  before  arrival,  or. 
in  other  words,  that  on  arrival  they  must  be  free  from  living 
insects.  The  law  of  California  relating  to  the  inspection  and 
quarantine,  is  plain  and  Mr.  Ehrhorn,  Quarantine  Officer  of  the 
port  of'  San  Francisco,  is  simply  carrying  out  his  responsibility 
in  detaining  infested  shipments  of  pineapples.  The  shipping  of 
clean  fruit  is  of  mutual  interest  to  California,  to  protect  the 
orchards  of  that  state,  and  to  the  pineapple  growers  of  Hawaii, 
to  prevent  the  loss  of  shipments.  In  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem, Mr.  Ehrhorn  has  taken  an  active  interest  and  we  are  in- 
debted to  him  for  valuable  assistance  and  advice. 

The  remedy  for  this  difficulty  lies  at  home.  Every  effort 
should  be  made  to  grow  clean  pineapples.  For  the  protection 
of  the  fruit  and  the  reputation  of  the  growers,  it-is  greatly  to  be 
desired  that  even  dead  scales  and  mealy-bugs  should  not  dis- 
figure the  fruit,  but  in  spite  of  the  most  rigid  methods  of  culti- 


vation,  it  is  probable  that  a  few  insects  will  be  present  in  aliv 
any  shipment.  It  is?  therefore,  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
fruit  should  be  carefully  fumigated;  and  that  special  vigilance- 
be  exercised  to  the  end  that  no  stray  fruits  that  have  not  been 
treated  should  get  into  the  crates.  The  writer  has  seen  ship- 
ments in  which  a  few  pineapples  were  found  in  the  crates  har- 
boring living  insects,  while  the  other  insects  in  the  crate  were 
troyed.  This  appears  to  be  due  to  carelessness  in  preparing 
the   shipment. 

The  entomologist  of  the  Station  gives  the  following  recom- 
mendation for  the  fumigation  of  pineapples  for  shipment: 

For  every  ioo  cubic  feet  of  air  space  the  dosage  is  as  follow- : 
i^  ounce    (by  weight;    of  potassium  cyanide, 
3  fluid  ounces  of  sulphuric  acid, 
6  fluid  ounces  of  water. 

This  dosage  with  an  exposure  of  60  minutes  has  been  found 
effective  in  killing  all  forms  of  the  mealy-bug.  Pseudococcus 
citri  and  the  scale..  Diaspis  bromeliae,  when  liberated  in  an  air- 
tight chamber. 

The  fumigation  under  canvas  has  not  been  uniform  in  results. 
It  has  been  necessary  to  extend  the  time  when  using  canvas  and 
the  length  of  time  has  depended  upon  the  facilities  for  doing  the 
work.  In  using  a  canvas  treated  effectively  to  prevent  leakage, 
over  an  air-tight  floor,  the  time  is  approximately  that  for  an 
air-tight  chamber.  Generally  speaking,  however,  the  time  for 
fumigation  under  treated  canvas  should  be  extended  to  at  least 
one  hour  and  thirty  minutes.  The  loss  of  time  in  the  labor 
required  for  the  fumigation  work  can  be  balanced  by  increasing 
the  capacity  of  the  fumigating  outfit. 


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http://archive.org/details/pineshipOOunit 


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